Television series

Durarara!!

Name: Durarara!!
Genre: Drama, Action, Anime, Fantasy
Released: 2010
Cast: Miyuki Sawashiro, Ayahi Takagaki, Daisuke Ono, Hiroshi Kamiya, Jun Fukuyama

Drama

Durarara!! is a hyperkinetic urban fantasy about interconnected misfits in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district. A headless Irish motorcyclist, a peaceful strongman, an info broker, and a shy schoolgirl orbit each other in a city where the ordinary and supernatural collide constantly. It's dizzy, propulsive, funny, and genuinely strange—made for people who want their anime ambitious and weird.

TVMaze rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love ensembles where dozens of loosely linked strangers tangle across one busy city, and you enjoy slowly piecing together who knows whom, with a streak of gleeful stylish chaos.

Skip it if you want a tight single-plot story; it sprawls across many viewpoints, jumps between timelines and gangs, and some threads take a long while to feel like they connect.

What it asks of you: Sixty episodes of roughly twenty-five minutes each, so a real time commitment. Attention pays off, since the mosaic only clicks when you keep track of many faces.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Baccano!2007

Another ensemble show from the same studio that juggles multiple timelines and character arcs with grace. It's got the same anarchic energy, the same love of unexpected violence, the same sense that everyone knows everyone else's secrets.

But The non-linear storytelling can feel wilfully confusing at first, and some viewers find the constant tonal shifts exhausting rather than exhilarating.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu2006

Another anime about ordinary kids in an ordinary school discovering that reality is far stranger than it appears. It has the same mischievous intelligence, the same willingness to break its own format, the same sense of joyful chaos barely contained.

But The second season is notorious for repetitive episodes that frustrate many viewers, and the whole thing leans heavily on in-jokes that don't land if you're not already invested.

Cowboy Bebop1998

A definitive ensemble anime about misfits drifting through space, each episode revealing something new about its cast. Like Durarara!!, it builds a full world from small moments, mixes genres fearlessly, and makes you care about people who pretend not to care.

But It's more languid and melancholic than Durarara!!'s frenetic pace, and some find its episodic structure less satisfying than ongoing plot.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Durarara!!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Paprika2006

Both deploy constant visual and narrative innovation to explore the unreliability of perception—a city (and a mind) where reality is negotiable.

A visual feast about dreams bleeding into reality, with the same vertiginous sense that the normal world is thinner than we think. Satoshi Kon's colour-soaked direction captures the dizzying energy Durarara!! achieves in narrative form.

But It's a film, not a series, so you get two hours of density rather than twelve episodes to let things breathe. Some viewers find the visual complexity overwhelming rather than exhilarating.

Psycho-Pass2012

An anime about a corrupt system, hidden identities, and people caught in webs they can't escape. It shares Durarara!!'s interest in information as power and the paranoia of a city where nothing is as it seems.

But It gets increasingly bleak and nihilistic, losing some of the comic relief that balances Durarara!!'s darkness. Also more ponderous in its pacing.

Monogatari Series2009

Experimental storytelling about strange supernatural events in a high school setting, told through rapid-fire dialogue and visual innovation. It shares Durarara!!'s willingness to make you work, and its faith that style and substance can genuinely be the same thing.

But The art style is deliberately unconventional and jarring. Heavy on fan service that some find off-putting, and the dialogue-heavy format demands full attention.

Samurai Champloo2004

Three outsiders on a road trip through Edo-period Japan, funded by watching their chemistry and dialogue. It has Durarara!!'s gift for making ensemble casts feel alive, with the same genre-bending confidence.

But It's more a series of vignettes than a driving plot, which means momentum sometimes stalls. The anachronistic hip-hop aesthetic is charming or grating depending on your tolerance.

Death Note2006

A game of cat-and-mouse between a brilliant young man and a detective who might be his equal. It has the same obsessive plotting, the same sense that information and intelligence are the real weapons, the same moral complexity.

But After the midpoint the narrative loses momentum, and some character decisions feel arbitrary. The second half never quite justifies the promise of the first.

Ergo Proxy2006

A post-apocalyptic noir about androids and humanity, told at an unhurried pace through stunning visuals. If you liked Durarara!!'s willingness to be weird and thematic rather than plot-driven, this rewards patient attention.

But It's deliberately obscure and slow-burn to the point of alienation for many viewers. Some find it pretentious; others find it genuinely boring.

Natsume's Book of Friends2008

An understated fantasy about a boy who can see spirits and the supernatural creatures drawn to him. It shares Durarara!!'s idea that the magical and mundane coexist, but trades chaos for melancholy.

But The episodic format means it can feel repetitive, and the gentleness of tone won't satisfy anyone craving Durarara!!'s propulsive excitement.

ODDTAXI in the Woods2022

Both build enormous narratives from small character moments, both trust the audience to track multiple threads, both make the city itself a character—and both are about information, power, and who knows what.

An ensemble mystery set in a city where animals are people, with detective noir plotting and rapid-fire reveals that reward close watching. It has Durarara!!'s gift for making every background character matter, and its pleasure in interconnected conspiracies.

But The animal character designs are polarising. The pacing in early episodes can feel slow if you're not yet invested in the mysteries it's planting.

Revolutionary Girl Utena1997

Both refuse the easy path. Both are anime willing to be structurally experimental, thematically dense, and genuinely strange. Both treat their worlds as symbol-systems rather than mere settings.

A surrealist magical girl anime where symbolism matters more than plot, where the episodic duels repeat and evolve, and where high school is a theatre for something stranger and more meaningful. It's as ambitious and unwilling to compromise as Durarara!!, but in an entirely different register.

But It's deliberately difficult—confusing in the first arc, and the repetition is intentional rather than entertaining. The lack of conventional narrative satisfaction bothers many viewers.